A Nike Missile is a Surface to Air missile (SAM) that is used to shoot down aircraft. Twenty (20) Nike Missile Bases used to ring Chicago and Gary, IN, protecting the area from enemy bomber attacks during the Cold War, specifically from 1950-1974. Gary was included because of its Steel Manufacturing at the time. Each of these missile bases housed a battery of Nike SAM missiles, ready to be used within minutes if necessary. Refer to Project Nike on Wikipedia for further information.
This author remembers visiting the Addison Base around 1981, before it was torn down but after it was abandoned. It was as if they just up and left, leaving everything behind; papers, desks, furniture, books, old equipment. One could still open the doors to the underground missile bays, but it was completely flooded, so we never went down there. Refer to Nike Missile Site C-47 on Wikipedia for photos of what another base looked like.
Each Nike Missile Site had two (2) different parts, kept apart in case something went wrong with a launch, or in the event of an attack. The Control Site was where all the controls for the missiles where located, such as radar, communications and command. The Launch Site was where the missiles where housed, typically in underground bunkers roofed with steel doors, opening when the missiles where readying to launch. The building they kept the warheads was also in this area.
Control site had been completely destroyed and is now where the restaurant ‘The Dock’ on Montrose Beach sits. The Launch complex had also been completely destroyed.
Control site had some buildings repurposed into the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The Launch complex is largely intact but is locked and is under private ownership.
The Control site is still mostly intact, but now it is the site of a Paintball Park. The Launch complex is also mostly intact, but in poor condition. Although in the Paintball Park, the Launch site is not part of the Paintball area.
The Control site has been redeveloped and is now a Forest Preserve. The Launch complex has been also redeveloped and is now part of US Army Reserve Center.
The Control site has been redeveloped into a Park. The base of the Tower is still intact. The Launch complex has been also redeveloped into Park District Land.
